Chapter 32.2 The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love

When he heard that, Xiu forcefully pulled out his hand and went back several steps to grab Du Ze’s right hand. However, Xiu’s hand did not exactly pull free of the door. Instead, the door’s metallic substance stretched out like a rubber band – then it snapped back in place. Xiu and Du Ze slammed into the door. The Phoenix also smashed into the door and slid down, dizzy from the impact.

Fortunately, Du Ze was unharmed. He hit the door with only a little bit of force.

Xiu was still being sucked into the Gate of Wisdom. Even so, Xiu still stubbornly clung to Du Ze’s right hand.

Naughty bear child, you’re overdoing it! You need to learn to be a good person; you are not a young man like me! Ah, dang, this little kid! Exactly like a noisy kid who goes to school for the first time and demands that his parents stay with him!

The little Phoenix finally recovered from its dizziness and woke up. It flapped its tiny wings while watching the tug of war and issued a cry.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp.”

Seeing Xiu and Du Ze inextricably entangled, the small Phoenix flapped its wings and flew up clumsily to Du Ze, hitting then tumbling down its target.

Du Ze felt that his nose was hit before his vision was filled with the trembling fluffy Phoenix lying on his face, cheerily shouting: “Chirp!”

Bear child + stupid, cute pet = a disaster.

Even if Xiu wasn’t willing to let go, the increasingly powerful suction was pulling him in. Xiu’s small hand slipped from Du Ze’s wrist to the palm of his hand, then to the doujinshi Du Ze was holding. Du Ze removed the baby Phoenix that was covering his eyes and saw what was happening. His mind was filled with a terrible premonition. Suddenly, with a ripping sound, the doujinshi tore and his premonition came true.

After swallowing up the flaxen-haired gnome, the Gate of Wisdom went back to its original appearance. Only some silly, cute person was left standing in front of it, staring at his incomplete doujinshi. Countless words ran through his mind, but his reaction could be summed up in one sentence: WTF!

The baby Phoenix sitting on the ground saw its “mother” with a grim look on his face, so it spread its wings and acted cute: “Chirp ~”

Stay calm, that is the protagonist’s cute pet, do not touch it.

Du Ze took a deep breath and, trembling, examined the doujinshi. The doujinshi has 40 pages, and Xiu had torn away ⅕ of it. Du Ze saw that the missing pages were the ones with the pistol play, mouth x, and the human form H scenes. Should he thank God that the protagonist will not see the shape-changing scenes? Du Ze held the doujinshi in his hands and wanted to cry: When will this terrifying day end?

“Bzzt, clank, bzzt, clank.”

Old John walked into the plaza and looked at Du Ze standing there alone. Its blue lights flashed. “He’s inside, isn’t he?”

Du Ze nodded impassively. Old John laughed; the sound was very strange to Du Ze who had not thought that a machine could laugh so happily and naturally.

“Good. I thought I would never again have the chance to see these little Masters – no no no, though they’re small, they don’t like the word ‘little’ at all.” Old John chuckled: “They are always very cute, aren’t they?”

The little Phoenix seemed to be curious about Old John. It struggled to flap its wings and tried to get onto Old John’s shoulder. Old John squatted down and let the little Phoenix perch on its slightly rusty shoulder. It straightened up its body and looked at the metal door. “It takes 300 days for a gnome to master the forging skill. Inside the Gate of Wisdom, time runs faster. The ratio of time is 60:1, comparing the time inside to that of the time outside. It should take about 5 days before he can come out.”

Du Ze learned from the novel that the gnome’s special skill is that they can control not just space, but also time. Ye Zhi Qiu wrote that, if only they had enough time, the gnomes could probably invent a machine that can control all of space and time. However, the one thing the gnomes lacked was enough time. For some mysterious reason, they disappeared during the long course of history in the world of “Mixed Blood.”

At this time, Old John said to Du Ze: “Would you like to tour our homeland, gnome’s friend?”

******

******

Xiu woke up and found himself in a silver-white enclosed space with no exit nor entrance – he was sucked in by the door.

When Xiu stood up, his clothes slipped down. His eyes widened when he looked at his hand – it wasn’t the elf’s long-fingered hands, but a pair of small, child-like hands. It wasn’t just his hands, his entire body had shrunk to half his former size as though rejuvenation magic had been cast on him and he had regressed to his childhood.

Xiu nervously held up his clothes and walked closer to a wall. In its silvery white surface, a blurred reflection could be seen of … a gnome. Xiu looked at his reflection. He now had flaxen hair and the pointed ears of a gnome. Xiu reached out and touched the wall hesitantly.

This is … me?

Suddenly a blue light swept over the room then condensed into the image of a small figure that appeared in front of Xiu.

Xiu became alert but was shocked when he saw that the short person opposite him was a gnome like him.

“Welcome to the Gate of Wisdom, child.” The gnome smiled at Xiu: “No need to be nervous, as long you make an effort to learn, the lessons here are very simple. Do you have any questions? You can ask me anything.”

Xiu stared the person opposite him and asked, “Are you a gnome?”

“No.” The short person shook his head: “I am just a projection.”

Indeed, if you examine it closely, you will see that that person’s body is not real.

“What is this place?”

“The Gate of Wisdom. You can master the gnome’s talent here: Forging.”

“How do I get out?”

The gnome took out a long piece of parchment. “You will be able to leave as soon as you finish these courses and pass the exams.”

Xiu looked at the length of the parchment and was silent.

“What’s the problem?” The gnome smiled and said, “Now we can start our first lesson.”

“One last question.” Xiu looked at the gnome: “Where is the gnome’s treasure?”

The gnome still kept its programmed smile. It stretched out its finger and pointed to its own head. “Here.”

“Wisdom is the greatest treasure of the gnome tribe.”

– excerpt from “Mixed Blood”

*******

The author has something to say:

Reader: Study hard and make progress every day. (Takes out “Mixed Blood”)

Protagonist: Study hard and make progress every day. (Takes out Doujinshi)

FYI, if you played game Skyrim there’s also extinct dwarfs (gnomes) race with their ruins, mechanics, robots, treasures, etc, and they also mysteriously disappeared without reasons.. I wonder if this is a global fantasy story knowledge bout dwarfs? Hemm, interesting..
Thanks for the chap 💞 💞 💞

I’m so glad that I made it here. It took me so long to reach this chapter, even planned to drop it at first because it was so hard to understand. It became better chapter by chapter and I’m soooo glad that I didn’t drop it. Thank you for the hard work of translating this story, can’t wait to read the next 😊

…wow…300 days? That’s under a year!! It’s a little unfair how a gnome can graduate in under a year, but us poor humans have to slog through years and years of school… and college… although, if it did take that long, Xiu would be an ojisan by the time he got out…no thanks, I’m greatful for the gnomes’ genius intellect/ridiculously accelerated courses!

Ah, I bet Xiu is gonna finish in half the time, though! Probably with a record score too! Maybe he might build Du Ze a gift before he gets out? (A tracker? Since it fits the whole paranoia thing…😛)

Don’t worry though, Xiu!! You still have doujin san to keep you company!! Connected to your love/obsession via ero doujin…. what is this feeling??

old john talked to du ze, so I guess the whole machines ignoring him was coincidence… I wonder what du ze is going to learn from the tour though?

Maybe he can do some treasure collection while he waits for Xiu? Since he does seem to be the party’s unofficial requisitions officer… maybe something romantic? Although, I dunno how he can beat the storage (engagement) rings gift…

oh! Maybe there is a gift to each of Xiu’s forms! To the lich-part of his soul, to the demon-a powerful weapon(unintentional) , to the human-the storage rings, to the gnome-???

Also, I wonder… where will the doujin appear after midnight? On du ze’s side? Or on Xiu’s? Also, is it a comprehensive reference book for all eight races? Oh! I hope Xiu gets enough time to go through it, since he has under a week before the doujin disappears if it reforms on du Ze’s side.. or maybe it gets duplicated?

Also, I’m unfamiliar with the ‘bear child’ phrase.. but I’m guessing it’s something like spoiled, but in a more affectionate manner??